Melon-seeder.



J. D. WHITSBL.

'MELON SEEDER.

LPPLIOATIOK FILED JAN. 11, 190B.

Patented Apr. 13, 1909.-

wit" use:

s a l n t m THE NORRIS Pzrzns cm, WASHINGTON, n. c.

- beams l.

JAMES D. WI-lIlSEL, OF LIBERAL, KANSAS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO H. A. SEVERIN, OF OKLAHOMA, OKLAHOMA.

MnLon-snnnisn.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April is, 1909.

Application filed January 11, 1908. Serial No. HOAOD.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, JAMEs D. Wnrrsnr, citizen of the United States, residin at Liberal, in the county of Seward and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Melon Seeders, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to a novel device for removing the seeds from melons and the like, and aims to pro ide a mechanism for this purpose which is entirely auto matic in its action and operates in an ethcient manner to produce the desired result.

A further object of the invention is to design a seed-extracting device which is simple and inexpensive in its construction and which is so formed as to enable the screens to be removed and replaced, thereby permitting the device to be employed in connection with various types of melons.

For a full understanding of the invention and the merits thereof and also to acquire a knowledge of the details of construction and the means for effecting the result, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which 1* Figure l is a longitudinal sectional view through a melon-seeder embodying the invention; 2 is a top plan view of the some; Fig. 3 is a. bottom plan view of the seeder, the supporting beams being removed; Fig. is a detail view of one of the brushes, portions being broken away; and, Fig. 5 is a detail view of a portion of the hopper.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the some reference characters.

The seed-extracting mechanism may oe mounted upon anysuitahle form of support and in the present instance is shown as carried by a pair of parallel and longitudinal Mounted upon these hesnis 1 is an upright cylindrical casing 2 which is preferehly formed of sheet metal and is provided at its upper end *ith a cover 3, the said cover being held removahly in position. by means of the bolts i and being formed with a spider having an angular socket 5 at its central portion, he said socket loosely receiving the upper end of a vertical shaft standard 6. This standard is held against rotation and the lower end thereof is engaged by a transverse bar 1 connecting the longitudinal beams 1. Rigid wi h this vertioal standard is e conical crushing member 8 which cooperates with a rotery hopper 9 in manner which will he hereinafter more fully described to cut up the melons into small particles. Projecting laterally from the conical crushing member 5: is a helical flange 10 which is designed to feed the melons within the rotating hopper 9. Rotatably mounted within the outer casing 2 and journaled upon the upright shaft or standard 6 is a frame carrying the hopper 9 and also carry ing pan 11 receiving the material passing through thehopp er and disch urging it against a primary cylindrical screen 12 which separates the coarse particles from the liner particles, the final separation of the seeds being accomplished b a secondary cylindrical screen 13 surrounding the primary screen 12 and having liner mesh their the same.

More specifically describing the rotary frame it will be observed that the base thereof is composed of a pair of intersecting cross bars 14, supporting members 15 being provided which project upwardly from the cross bars and carry a bearing member 16 engaging the vertical shaft 6.

The rotary hopper 9 comprises an upper cylindrical portion 9 and a lower inverted conical portion 9 surrounding the conical crushing member 8 and cooperating therewith to crush the melons within the hopper. The sides of the hopper are formed of a plurality of metallic strips which are doubled upon themselves at an intermediate point, the doubled portions of the strips being secured to a lower ring 17 from which the strips incline outwardly and upwardly until they meet an intermediate ring 18 to which they ere secured, the strips extending vertically upward from the intermediate ring and hav ng their extremities secured to an. upper ring 19 of a size corresponding to that of the intermediate ring. Attention may be here directed to the fact that the inclined portions of the strips constituting the conical portion of the hopper are twisted at an angle of ninety degrees, the melons being designed to pass through the strips after being crushed in the required manner. For the purpose of supporting the hopper a number of vertical brace members 20 are utilized which extend upwardly from the cross bars 14. Cooperating with these vertical braces 20 are the diagonal braces 21 and 22, the former engaging the conical portion of the hopper while the latter engage the supporting members 15.

Mounted upon the rotary frame immediately under the hopper 9 is a pan 1.1, the said pan having a perforate formation and the sides thereof being flared outwardly, the bot tom of the pan resting upon the supporting members 15. An agitator arm 23 operates within the an, the said arm being rigid with the vertict shaft or standard 6 so as to remain stationary as the pan revolves. This agitator tends to force the materialin the pan outwardly and cooperates with the centrifugal force to force the material within the pan toward the periphery thereof.

It will thus be apparent that the melons are fed into the hopper and that after being crushed to the required extent by means of the conical crushing member 8 and the helical flange l0 thereon they pass into the pan 11. From this pan the particles of melon are discharged against a primary cylindrical screen 12 of a comparatively large mesh. Bearing against the interior of the cylindrical primary screen 12 is a brush 24 pendent from the cover 3, the smaller portions of the melon including the seed passing through the primary screen While the chunks and rind are gradually carried down to the bottom by means of the brush 24 where they are dropped between the longitudinal beams 1 of the support. The smaller portions of the melon after assmg through the prnnary screen are broug it into contact with the secondary screen 13 which has a comparatively fine mesh, the said secondary screen being engaged by a brush 25 similar to the brush 24 and also pendent from the cover 3. This brush tends to grind the pulp and melon particles through the secondary screen, the seeds dropping into an annular trough 25.

More specifically describing the brushes 24 and 25 it will be observed that the upper ends thereof are pivotally connected to the cover 3 and are provided with lateral arms 27 engaged by adjusting nuts 28 by means of which the brushes can be swung outwardly toward the respective screens and caused to bear against the same with the required degree of pressure. Attention mayalso be directed to the bolts 29 which hold the cylindrical screens in position, since by removing these bolts together with the cover 3 and brushes attached thereto, the cylindrical screen members can be removed and screens of a different mesh substituted therefor, thereby enabling the machine to be readily adapted for use in connection with melons of varlous types.

A brush 30 preferably formed of a number of spring steel strips is carried by the base of the revolving frame and operates within the collecting trough 26 which is stationary. By

V i 1 1 4 this means the seeds falling within the trough cles of the melon which may have been carried down with the seed are discharged.

Loca ed at the bottom of the rotary frame and secured to the cross bars 14 at the intersection thereof is a circular plate provided at its periphery with a rack 3-l meshing with a pinion 35 upon a shaft 36 designed to receive power from any suitable source. This circ lar plate 33 engages and rests upon roller bearings 37 journaled in arms radiating from a supporting plate 38. It will thus be apparent that the rotary frame carrying the hopper 9, pan 11, primary screen 12 and secondary screen 13 is supported in such a manner as to rotate freely about a vertical axis and that the desired rotation can be brought about by applying power to the shaft 36.

From the foregoing description it will he readily apparent that in the operation of the device the melons are fed into the rotary hopper where they are subjected to the action of the conical crushing member 8 and the helical flange 10 carried thereby until they have been broken up to therequired degree of fineness to admit of their passing between the bars constituting the sides of the hopper.

At this point it is desired to call attention to the fact that it is important for the proper operation of the seeder that the melons be crushed instead of cut up into pieces, since in the former instance the seeds are loosened within the pulp of the melon and partially separated therefrom, while when the melon is merely cut into pieces the seed and pulp are much more diflicult to separate from each other. The helical flange 10 merely serves to feed the melons downward within the rapidly rotated hopper and is preferably formed so as to not cut the melons, :1 though this is optional with the user. After passing through the hopper the particles of melon are collected in the pan 1 l and subjected to the action of the agitator arm 23. From this pan ll. the particles of melon. are discharged against the primary screen, the finer particles including the seed passing through the said screen while the coarser particles are gradually carried down by means of a brush In a somewhat similar manner the liner particles which pass through the primary screen are acted upon by the orush 25 in conjunction with the secondary screen, the pulp being forced through the secondary screen while the seeds dro 3 into the annular trough 26 within which they are collected.

The brush 30 then engages the seeds and carries them around Within the trough until 1 they pass through the discharge spout 3 i into the drying tray 32.

'The two brushes 24 and25 are so 0011- structed and have the bristles thereon so lo- 1 cated as to gradually carry the melon parl ticles downwardly, this being necessary since i the rotary motion of the screens would otherwise tend to prevent the proper downward movement of the melon particles.

Having thus described the invention, what 3 is claimed as new is: l

1. In a seed separator, the combination of a rotary frame, means carried by the rotary frame for separating the seed from the pulp, a hopper carried by the rotary frame, a stationary crushing member cooperating with the hopper, and means for receiving the pulp and seeds from the hopper and delivering them to the separating means.

2. In a seed separator, the combination of a rotary frame, means carried by the rotary frame for separating the seeds from the pulp, a hopper carried by the rotary frame, a stationary crushing member cooperating with the hopper, a helical flange upon the crushing member, and means for receiving the pulp and seeds from the hopper and delivering them to the separating means.

3. In a seed separator, the combination of a rotary frame, means carried by the rotary frame for separating the seeds from the pulp, a hopper carried by the rotary frame, a sta tionary crushing member cooperating with the hopper, a helical flange upon the crush: ing member, and a rotary pan. for receiving the pulp and seeds from the hopper and delivering them to the separating means.

4. In a seed separator, the combination of a rotary frame, means carried by the rotary frame for separating the seeds from the pulp,

a hopper carried by the rotary frame, a stai tionary crushing member cooperating w1th l the hopper, a helical flange upon the crushing member, a pan carried by the rotary frame and. receiving the pulp and seeds from the hopper, and a stationary arm cooperating with the pan to deliver the seeds and pulp to the separating means.

5. In a seed separator, the combination of a support, a stationary shaft carried by the support, a rotary frame journaled upon the stationary shaft, means carried by the rotary frame for separating the seeds from the pulp, a hopper carried by the rotary frame, a crushing member mounted upon the stationary shaft for cooperation with the hopper, a pan carried by the rotary frame for receiving the pulp and seeds from the hopper, and an arm rigid with the stationary shaft and cooperating with the pan to deliver the seeds and pulp to the separating means.

6. In a seed separator, the combination of screen, and means for collecting the seeds separated by the screen.

I. In a seed separator, the combination of a rotary frame, a cylindrical screen carried,

by the rotary frame, a stationary brush cooperating with the screen, a hopper carried by the rotary frame, a crushing member cooperating with the hopper, and means for re ceiving the seeds and pulp from the hopper and delivering them to the screen.

8. In a seed separator, the combination of a rotary frame, a primary cylindrical screen carried by the frame, a secondary cylindrical screen carried by the frame in cooperative relation to the primary screen, a stationary brush bearing against each of the screens, a hopper carried by the rotary frame, a crushing member cooperating with the hopper, means for receiving the seeds and pulp from the hopper and delivering them to the primary screen, the seeds passing through the said screen, and means for collecting the seeds separated by the secondary screen.

9. In a melon seeder, the combination of a frame, a screen carried by the frame, a hop per carried by the frame, means cooperating with the hopper to break up the melon, a rotary tray receiving the melon from the hopper and delivering it to the screen, and means for collecting the seeds discharged. by the screen.

10. In a melon seeder, the combination of a screen, a hopper, means cooperating with the hopper to break up the melon, a rotary pan receiving the melon from the hopper and feeding it to the screen, an agitator operating within the rotary tray, and means for collect ing the seeds discharged by the screen.

11. In a melon seeder, the combination of a rotary frame, a hopper mounted upon the frame, a screen mounted upon the frame, means cooperating with the hopper to break up the melon, means for delivering the melon from the hopper to the screen, means for collecting the seeds from the screen, a plate applied to the rotary frame and formed with a rack, a supporting plate having rollers journaled therein and engaging the before mentioned plate upon the rotary frame, and a pinion cooperating with the rack to rotate the frame.

12. In a melon seeder, the combination of a support, a casing carried by the support, a cover for the casing, a shaft engaged by the cover and support, a rotary frame j ournaled upon the shaft, a hopper carried by the rotary frame, a screen carried by the rotary frame, a brush carried by the cover and engaging the screen, means cooperating with the hopper to break up the melon, means for delivering the melon from the hopper to the screen, and means for collecting the seeds discharged by the screen.

13. In a seed separator, the combination of a rotary frame, a primary cylindrical screen carried by the rotary frame, a secondary cylindrical screen carried by the rotary frame in cooperative relation with the primary screen, means for delivering seed and pulp to the primary screen, the seed passing through the said screen, a stationary annular trough for collecting the seed separated by the secondary screen, a discharge pipe for the trough, and a brush member carried by the rotary frame and operating Within the trough to bring the seeds to the discharge spout.

In testimony whereof I aff x my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

E. J. TI-IAYER, OTTO L. DE Your. 

